''Solanum cheesmaniae'', is one of two main species of wild
tomato
The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...
es found on the
Galápagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands (Spanish: , , ) are an archipelago of volcanic islands. They are distributed on each side of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, surrounding the centre of the Western Hemisphere, and are part of the Republic of Ecuador ...
. This species is the one most commonly called the Galapagos tomato. It is a wild tomato that evolved on the famous
Galapagos Islands, the place where
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...
noted the structural difference between local
finch
The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...
es,
iguana
''Iguana'' (, ) is a genus of herbivorous lizards that are native to tropical areas of Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The genus was first described in 1768 by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in his ...
s, and
barnacles, leading him to identify
natural selection
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Cha ...
as a possible source of the
origin of species
''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...
; he prepared a
herbarium
A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study.
The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...
sheet of the species on his visit.
It often gets confused with the other native species, ''
Solanum galapagense'', which is similar but slightly different having more bushy smelly foliage and having smaller hairier orange fruits. It also gets confused with natural
omestic tomato x ''S. cheesmaniae''hybrids and
'Solanum pimpinellifolium'' x (''S. cheesmaniae'' or ''S. galapagense'')hybrids because of introduction of domestic tomatoes to the Galapagos Islands, and the presence of ''Solanum pimpinellifolium'' on the islands and natural hybridization occurring between them.
[Local extirpation is pervasive among historical populations of Galápagos endemic tomatoes](_blank)
/ref> Although listed as a Least-concern species
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
by the IUCN, recent observations suggest the species may in fact be threatened.
This tomato is smaller and more pale than the oldest mainland cultivars, both in its fruit and leaves, but its flavor is similar. It can also be crossbred with it, which has been done professionally to impart its unusual disease resistances to some commercial cultivars.
Description
''Solanum cheesmaniae'' is a robust, perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
, herbaceous plant
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.
Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous"
The fourth edition of t ...
that at first grows erect, later lying. It reaches up to high; its foliage reaches a similar diameter
In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid for ...
. It is often found in rocky coastal sites. The grayish stems become woody at the base and reach a diameter of . The dense, velvety coat consists of white, single row, non-glandular trichomes
Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant ...
up to 0.5 mm in length and occasional short-row, glandular trichomes with four or eight digits.
There are varying breeds of galapagos tomato, which can be differentiated by one to four-pinnate leaves, and habits of growing on the shore or inland.[Relationships, origin, and diversity of Galápagos tomatoes: implications for the conservation of natural populations](_blank)
/ref>
Distribution and ecology
The species occurs on the islands of Galapagos, 500 miles west of Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
. They grow in extremely wet, rocky areas from sea level to up to several hundred feet. The flowers and fruits appear consistently throughout the year, but there is a noticeable increase in flowering between September and October.
''Solanum cheesmaniae'' is thought to have diverged from its closest relatives, ''Solanum lycopersicum
The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...
'' and ''Solanum pimpinellifolium
''Solanum pimpinellifolium'', commonly known as the currant tomato or pimp, is a wild species of tomato native to Ecuador and Peru but naturalized elsewhere, such as the Galápagos Islands. Its small fruits are edible, and it is commonly grown i ...
'', less than 500,000 years ago [Phylogenomics Reveals Three Sources of Adaptive Variation during a Rapid Radiation](_blank)
/ref>
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3489171
cheesmaniae
Endemic flora of Ecuador
Endemic flora of Galápagos